Affections
by Salazarfalcon
Summary: Late at night in the Dragon Castle, two beings lay awake. One, contemplating a personal purpose, the other worrying about the first. Outside, a snowstorm rages... A new take on the fire knight and a rarely appreciated character.


Affections

Salazarfalcon

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dragon Knights, a bunch of people more wealthy than I do that.

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**Begin:**

_Bad things happen when it snows._

_I don't like it._

With a sigh, Rath Illuser lay back in bed, trying not to watch with unease the snow swirling and spattering against the windows. From atop his chest, Fire opened red eyes, chirped at him, and promptly folded his head back under his wing.

He knew that Rath disliked it when he worried.

Ever since the final battle against Nadil, in which the Dragon Lord's heir had destroyed him for good, Fire had refused to enter the sword at night, insisting on sleeping with his master. Rath tried not to show it, but he appreciated the sentiment and the protective touch. Even if, in his mind, he didn't deserve it.

The crimson-eyed knight tried to relax, really he did, but it was only when Fire blew of breath of warm air into his face that his slender limbs ceased their tension and released it, shivering as they did so.

Not even Thatz and Rune were allowed to see him like this. Granted, he let them nearer than even Cesia, but something in him simply refused to permit the bond of trust that he shared with his dragon.

Fire was quite the smartass around others, what with his bratty comments and obnoxious signs, but when it was the two of them he was serious, compassionate, and above all, knowledgeable of just how Rath felt at any given moment. It was a relationship that he could only communicate to the one he knew and who knew him best. It couldn't be copied.

Sometimes, Rath wondered it Thatz and Rune shared such a bond that could not be duplicated with their dragons, as he did. That not even Tintlet and Kitchell could duplicate. But every time that he had thought to ask, he had changed his mind.

It was none of his business anyway.

When he had discovered who and what he really was, Fire was the one to see his tears, even though they refused to fall. When he had killed Alfeegi and realized the true nature of Kai-stern's death, Fire had stayed with him, uncomplaining, until he was ready to be soothed. And when he had rejected Cesia as gentle as he knew how and made her cry nonetheless, he had spent the rest of the night sobbing desolately into Fire's warm, fluffy mane.

No one else was permitted to see him in that vulnerable of a state. Not Rune or Thatz, nor Cesia, not even the Dragon King and Queen were allowed to view him like that. Ever. No exceptions.

The fire knight narrowed his eyes in contemplation. Slowly, of its own accord, slender fingers began to stroke Fire gently on the head, and Rath was amused when the dragon leaned into the touch, making soft, almost purring sounds.

Fire had been with him longer than anyone and he trusted him inexplicably. Fire was the only one who had never lost faith in him, always believed in him, and would never leave or stray from Rath's side. Even Kai-stern, to whom Rath had been truthful almost to the point of hurtful must have had some doubts about him.

At some point, Rath knew that Kai-stern _must_ have worried.

"What would I do, if I couldn't rely on you?" he wondered aloud, watching as Fire chirped at him, opening eyes the same color as his master's, his answer obvious.

You would be dead.

And it was true; Rath knew it was true.

Introverted as he was, it had always been difficult to get close to him, even as a child. Rath had never cried, had never thrown tantrums, and when upset rarely so much as sulked, but had he not been able to release his tensions onto someone willing to listen, the bottled up anxieties would have surely overwhelmed him.

He remembered one time when he was younger that he had gone outside without permission; Alfeegi had caught him and promptly tore into him about it, and while Rath knew that it was somewhat deserved, it still hurt. But in the five or so minutes of being thoroughly shouted at, Rath hadn't so much as flinched. It was only when he had gone up into his room that his barriers shattered.

The second his door had shut the boy had burst into tears without truly crying, sat down right where he stood, and hugged Fire to him tightly.

The small dragon hadn't complained about the slightly callous and childish treatment once. Not once.

Rath never meant to be so rough to his closest friend and had always apologized after each rare (but rather explosive) outburst, yet always seemed surprised when they were accepted.

"You know that I need you, right?"

And indeed the dragon did.

Despite not even being Rath's destined dragon (That was Light's job) Fire had remained, always knowing full well that he was needed. Had Light survived and had Cesia been found quicker, Fire knew that he wouldn't have left his knight's side.

Yes, _his_ knight. No doubt about it.

Always his knight.

Now and forever.

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**-Finite-**

**-**Written to **It Makes Me Want To Cry Without Reason**, from Four Seasons, the second Fruits Basket soundtrack.-


End file.
